New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday the government will ease the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, while the nation’s largest city – the epicenter of the latest outbreak – will remain closed for two more weeks. At a news briefing, Ardern said that beginning August 31 most of the country will move to a level-three shut down, which allows businesses to fill online orders and do takeout services. Bars and restaurants remain closed, except for takeaways.Ardern said Auckland will remain under alert level 4, which requires all schools, offices and all businesses to be closed, with only essential services operational. Before this latest lockdown, the nation’s last stay-at-home orders were lifted in March.The government took the measures to stop the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.  New Zealand’s health service reported 70 new cases on Friday, bringing the total number of infections during this outbreak, which began this month, to 347. New Zealand has been one of the best nations in the world at controlling COVID-19.Meanwhile, a new report published the medical journal The Lancet says the symptoms that linger after a person has survived the novel coronavirus are little understood by the medical community.  The report says the syndrome, known as “long haul COVID-19,” must be studied and understood in order to launch an appropriate response for what the journal calls “a modern medical challenge of the first order.” The Lancet article said recovery can take more than a year. The lingering symptoms include “persistent fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog, and depression.”The report says finding answers to the mystery of long haul COVID-19 “while providing compassionate and multidisciplinary care, will require the full breadth of scientific and medical ingenuity.”Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States who have not been able to pay rent during the pandemic are facing eviction after the Supreme Court decided not the extend the nationwide ban on evictions that had been imposed during the pandemic.  Three of the justices dissented.  Jen Psaki, U.S. President Joe Biden’s press secretary, said in a statement, “As a result of this ruling, families will face the painful impact of evictions, and communities across the country will face greater risk of exposure to COVID-19.”  
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An increase in world naval activity in the disputed South China Sea will prompt the strategic waterway’s largest claimant, Beijing, to send more of its own ships as a way of showing others it won’t retreat, experts say.  Two Indian navy warships and a Vietnamese navy frigate held exercises last week that started at a port in Vietnam and extended into firing drills and helicopter moves further at sea, the Indian Defense Ministry said on its website. It said the exercises were “in continuation with ongoing deployment of Indian Navy ships in the South China Sea” and “would be another step towards strengthening India-Vietnam defense relations.”Among other exercises in or near the sea, a Royal Canadian Navy warship joined Australian, Japanese and U.S. naval vessels for a coordinated workout in January. Ships from Australia, India, Japan and the United States scheduled their annual Malabar exercises near Guam – the U.S. territory closest to Asia – for August 26-29.Since about the start of the year, warships from eight countries with no actual maritime claims have passed through or near the South China Sea.Western Countries Send Ships to South China Sea in Pushback Against Beijing Western governments see an urgency to help the US government reduce Beijing’s reach in the waterway that supports marine shipping and fossil fuel, scholars say China claims about 90% of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea, overlapping waters  five other governments also claim. Chinese officials point to maritime documents dating back to dynastic times as support for their claim. The others cite a United Nations convention on sea usage.People’s Liberation Army Navy ships are expected to travel the sea more often and step up the frequency of exercises, scholars believe. China already held naval exercises near its southern coast this month, following a round in January and another in March.Officials in Beijing have indicated they hold exercises largely in response to U.S. movements. The People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command “will always remain on high alert” and “resolutely safeguard” China’s sovereignty, a senior colonel said in August last year after it had “warned off” a U.S. guided-missile destroyer.China fears the dispute is becoming more “internationalized” because of the spike in foreign navy operations and that it has lost its clout to discuss sovereignty disputes one-on-one with other Asian states, said Yun Sun, senior fellow and co-director of the East Asia program at the Stimson Center in Washington.Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – all militarily weaker than China – lay claims in the sea. They value the sea for its fisheries, undersea fossil fuel reserves and marine shipping lanes. Vietnam and the Philippines have spoken out against China’s ship movement and land reclamation at disputed islets.“The more foreign vessels, the more need that China will identify for military exercises to show it’s not scared [and] it’s vigorously using military capability to define and defend national interests,” Sun said.China will probably react to each foreign exercise with something comparable, though actual clashes are unlikely, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.“What happens after these [foreign] ships come into the South China Sea really depends on China’s reaction, because always China tends to overreact to every vessel passage in the South China Sea,” he said.Countries from outside the region often pair their exercises with statements opposing a single country’s control of the whole sea, another irritant to Beijing. The Southeast Asian maritime claimants now “have some leverage” and are “not taking on China alone,” Sun said. A country such as Vietnam might now feel “emboldened” to step up its drilling for undersea oil and gas, she said. “It is gradually offsetting China’s dominance in the region and also offsetting or attacking China’s hegemonic desire in that part of the world,” Sun said.China would bolster its own exercises along with diplomatic protests against the non-Asian naval exercises, said Shariman Lockman, senior foreign policy and security studies analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia. The country is likely to “act professionally” to avoid any wider conflict, though, he said.“They will make a lot of noise,” Lockman said. “They will react. But I think they are also wary about prompting anything bigger.”
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When Hong Gang-chul, a North Korean border guard, decided to escape his homeland in 2013, he knew his relationship with his family would never be the same.Hong, who had helped other North Koreans escape, left the country in a hurry, believing he was wanted by North Korean authorities.In doing so, he left two young daughters with their mother in North Korea. When he later began to arrange for them to defect, they refused.A stocky, soft-spoken 48-year-old, Hong now lives in a simple apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, where he looks after his elderly mother, who also fled the North.Like many defectors, Hong at times struggles to adjust to his new life in South Korea.In North Korea, he manned a guard post along the demilitarized zone; now, he hosts a YouTube channel and works as a writer and commentator on North Korea issues.When punditry doesn’t provide enough income, he takes work as a low-skilled laborer at construction sites — anything to scrape together enough to send his daughters money at least once a year.“It’s impossible now for me to do the things a typical father would do for his children,” he told VOA in a matter-of-fact tone that only partly hides his distress. “The only thing I can do to look after them at this point is to send money.”North Korean escapees have long sent funds to relatives back home using a network of brokers who smuggle cash and goods across what used to be a relatively porous border with China. The remittances can be a major source of income in North Korea, where the economy is tightly regulated.Such money transfers have become trickier and much more expensive during the coronavirus pandemic. Many North Korean officials who used to look the other way, or who even accepted bribes to assist with smuggling, now report brokers to authorities, amid a wider crackdown on cross-border activity.The increased risk has driven prices way up. Before the pandemic, remittance brokers would typically charge a commission of around 30%, but that figure is now closer to 50%, according to several Seoul-based defectors and activists.“The money I send to North Korea has basically been cut in half,” said Hong, who also cited unstable foreign currency exchange rates in the North.Some brokers charge as much as 70% commission, he added.Links severedThe remittance crackdown is one of many ways the coronavirus pandemic is severing the already fragile links between North Korean defectors and their families back home.Since the pandemic began, North Korea has imposed one of the world’s toughest lockdowns, not only sealing its external borders but also expanding domestic travel restrictions.As a result, many defectors, including Hong, haven’t heard from their families in months.That is partly because brokers often help pass messages between separated family members, according to Sokeel Park of Liberty in North Korea, a group that helps North Korean defectors settle in the South.Even for North Koreans who talk with the outside world via smuggled Chinese cellphones, communication has become much harder.“Most of the time people are not making calls from inside their house. They are moving around to other places close to the border,” either to get a better signal or avoid state surveillance, Park said.However, any movement is now difficult, especially near the border, he added.‘Worse than ever’The crackdown on money brokers seems to have become especially intense in the last several months.The Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that relies on a network of anonymous sources inside North Korea, reported a “massive campaign” of broker arrests beginning in May.Whereas brokers who were caught used to receive three to five years of reeducation as punishment, North Korean authorities have now tripled those sentences to 10 to 15 years, the Daily NK reported.“The punishment is worse than ever,” said Ju Chan-yang, another Seoul-based defector, who told VOA she has stopped trying to send money to North Korea altogether.Even when offered a 70% commission, a broker refused to send money from one of her friends to a family member in Pyongyang who has cancer and needed money for treatment, Ju said.No escapeNorth Korea’s lockdown is also preventing defections, which have plummeted to historic lows.In 2019, 1,047 defectors arrived in South Korea, according to data from Seoul’s Unification Ministry. In 2020, only 229 defectors arrived in South Korea.During the second quarter of 2021, only two North Koreans reached the South. That is the smallest quarterly figure since Seoul began counting in 2003.Lee Se-jun, a South Korea-based defection broker, told VOA he has not helped facilitate an escape from North Korea in over a year, due to the intense security buildup on the North Korean side of the border.Another factor is the skyrocketing cost of defections.Hong, the former North Korean border guard, said it now costs up to $21,000 for North Koreans to defect, compared to a previous rate of about $13,000.No end in sightThe North Korean pandemic restrictions may not be relaxed anytime soon.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has repeatedly warned of “prolonged” anti-epidemic measures, even as his government continues to insist it has detected no coronavirus cases.Many of those who have escaped North Korea now acknowledge it may be a long time before they will hear from family.“It’s a real double whammy,” said Park. “Along with everything else, so much of the contact is being shut off at the time when North Korean people face their biggest challenges in 20 years.”
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A Taiwanese company, TiSPACE, plans to launch Australia’s first commercial rocket later this year.The rocket is called Hapith, which means “flying squirrel” in a Taiwanese Indigenous language.So far, no specific date for the rocket’s launch has been given. However, officials say an experimental flight is planned this year from a private facility on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Official approval was granted by the Australian government this week.Developers hope the vehicle will reach outer space, at least 100 kilometers above sea level, before falling back to Earth, over the sea. The rocket’s data, navigation and propulsion systems will be scrutinized.James Brown, the chief executive of the Space Industry Association of Australia, said it will be a significant mission.“This is the first, sort of, major rocket launch in about 40 years for Australia,” he said. “So, this is a rocket that is about 10 meters high, it’s got two stages, it’ll be launched from South Australia out over the ocean and it will get to about 100 kilometers high. It is basically testing this Taiwanese technology, which is a rocket built around a hybrid engine, and if that works well, if it is all safe, if it’s all reliable, then the plan is for this company to come back and launch a bigger rocket that is about 20 meters high that can carry up to 400 kilograms worth of satellite payload into space, so it is a really exciting development for the industry.”TiSPACE is Taiwan’s first private space company, which reportedly chose a launch site in Australia because of regulatory problems back home. The Taipei Times reported concerns over the legality of proposed launch sites in Taiwan.Researchers have said the project is potentially significant for both Australia’s and Taiwan’s space industries, which have lagged behind other space programs. Australia only established a domestic space agency in 2018.Alice Gorman, an associate professor at Flinders University and space exploration expert, says Australia is well-positioned to benefit from the global space sector.“At the top of the country, in the north, we are relatively close to the equator and that is a huge advantage for launching satellites into geostationary orbit because you get the assistance of the Earth’s rotation,” she said. “In the south, where Southern Launch is developing its launch sites, we are perfectly located to launch things into polar orbit, and this is where a lot of our earth observation satellites are, a lot of scientific satellites, and we are not looking at, you know, monumentally massive, big rockets here. We are looking at small rockets, small satellites and with both ends of the country able to specialize in different kinds of launch, we really do have a geographic advantage.”Australia’s rocket-launching heritage goes back decades. For years, launches were taking place regularly at the Woomera range in South Australia, including missile experiments for the military. The site remains a major Australian defense and research facility.TiSPACE has said it plans further “suborbital launches and several orbital launches” after this year’s test flight. 
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Throughout China, as the school year starts on September 1, all elementary and secondary school students face a new mandatory class — Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The new curriculum highlights how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Xi are focusing on ideological control of the population as the course, referred to as “Xi Thought,” trickles down from Chinese universities, where it was introduced in 2020. “Propaganda and political instruction have been part of education in China since 1949, as the Communist Party understands exactly the power of shaping people’s minds, especially when they are young and malleable,” said Didi Kirsten Tatlow, a senior fellow at the Asia Program of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, Germany. Chinese leader Mao Zedong declared the CCP had founded the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949.  It’s no surprise, Tatlow added, that as FILE – Men ride a scooter past a poster showing Chinese President Xi Jinping on the side of a school building in Henan province, China, Feb. 22, 2019.”This is how to control the next generation and ensure continued support for the party and for Xi. Coupled with an ongoing push to ‘party-build’ in all walks of life including business, it shows Xi and the party are doubling down on ideological control,” she told VOA Mandarin in an email interview. ”Party building” refers to efforts to purify CCP organizations and strengthen support from party members as well as average Chinese citizens. Perry Link, an expert on contemporary Chinese politics and a distinguished professor at the University of California, Riverside, agreed, telling VOA Mandarin, “It’s time that we call a spade a spade. This is brainwashing.”  Guideline issued The FILE – Students take a picture with the People’s Liberation Army during morning assembly at a secondary school, on the 100th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China, in Hong Kong, July 1, 2021.To get a better sense of the new textbooks, VOA Mandarin read the grade 3 version, which has 52 pages divided into six chapters.  In the second chapter, “We Follow the Communist Party Wholeheartedly,” Xi appears in six photos in a subsection called “Grandpa Xi Jinping’s heart is with the people.” The images show him visiting deaf girls in an Inner Mongolia orphanage in 2014, shaking hands with workers at a marine instruction site in the coastal city of Qingdao in 2018, talking to Beijing residents during the Lunar New Year holiday in 2019, visiting a poor family in Chongqing in 2019, chatting with a local family in Gansu province in 2019, and making rice cakes with ethnic minorities in a Yunnan province village in 2020. In illustrations, children say: “Grandpa Xi Jinping tells us a person can have many aspirations, but the most important aspiration in life should be connected to the country and the people” and “Grandpa Xi Jinping tells us we should establish the value of ‘labor is glorious’ when we’re young.”  In the fifth chapter titled “We Are the Successors of Communism,” in a subsection called “Grandpa Xi Jinping’s expectations for us,” photos show a smiling Xi surrounded by schoolchildren, planting trees with Young Pioneers, and holding still as a young girl ties a red Young Pioneer scarf around his neck. The last page of the subsection is a letter written by Xi to congratulate the Chinese Young Pioneers on the organization’s 70th anniversary. The nationwide youth organization enrolls all Chinese children ages 6 to 14.  “Ever since Xi Jinping took power, especially in the last few years, not just in school history textbooks but also the party’s own history archives, have had more exposure of Xi,” said Yang Jianli, founder of the U.S.-based rights group Citizen Power Initiatives for China. He added that what is happening now is more aggressive than when Mao led China and that the new curriculum reminded him of George Orwell’s “1984.”  Tracy Zhang, a teacher and a parent in central China’s city of Xi’an, said parents have little control over what their children are exposed to in school. She asked VOA to use a pseudonym in fear of attracting attention.  “We cannot control what the schools teach our kids unless we send our kids to international schools,” she told VOA Mandarin. The students will have to pass exams to graduate. So we don’t have a choice. The government probably doesn’t think the current brainwashing is enough.”Lin Yang contributed to this report.
 
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Taiwan and Japan’s ruling party will hold security talks for the first time later this week, a Taiwanese lawmaker said Wednesday, as the two neighbors fret about China’s increasingly bellicose military threats.The announcement of the talks was condemned by Beijing, which claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan and opposes countries having official contacts with Taipei. Two lawmakers each from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will hold a virtual talk on Friday dubbed a “two-plus-two” security meeting. “This is the first dialogue of its kind initiated by the Japanese side and we will be discussing diplomacy, defense and regional security issues,” participant and DPP lawmaker Lo Chih-cheng told AFP. The talks will address regional security concerns including China, added Lo, who also heads up the DPP’s international affairs department. Masahisa Sato, a parliamentarian in charge of foreign affairs for LDP, told the Financial Times that the dialogue was a substitute for ministerial talks as Japan officially recognizes Beijing over Taipei. They were necessary as Taiwan’s future would have a “serious impact” on Japan, Sato was quoted as saying. “That is how important we feel the situation in Taiwan is at the moment,” he told the paper, adding “higher-level talks with Taiwanese government officials” would be planned in the future.China hit out at Friday’s summit, saying it opposed “any form of official interaction” with Taiwan. “The Taiwan issue touches on the political foundation of China-Japan relations…(Japan) should be especially cautious in its words and deeds,” warned foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. Like the United States, Japan has become increasingly rattled by China’s saber-rattling towards Taiwan.In a recent defense white paper, Tokyo directly linked Japan’s security with Taiwan’s, breaking with years of precedent.Beijing has ramped up diplomatic, military and economic pressure on self-ruled democratic Taiwan in recent years.Chinese fighter jets and nuclear capable bombers now routinely fly into Taiwan’s aid defense zone while state media churns out regular editorials vowing that Taiwan will be swiftly defeated in any invasion.Recent editorials have seized on the Washington’s chaotic departure from Afghanistan as evidence the US cannot be relied upon to protect Taiwan. Taipei and Washington have rejected that narrative and say relations are “rock solid”.During a trip to Hanoi on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said the US would find new ways to “raise the pressure on Beijing”, accusing China of bullying in hotly disputed Asian waters for the second time in two days.
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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said the international community needs to “raise the pressure” on China over its widespread territorial claims over the South China Sea Wednesday, during a speech on her first day in Hanoi. Harris made the remarks in the Vietnamese capital ahead of a bilateral meeting with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. “We need to find ways to pressure and raise the pressure on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” — a reference to the U.N. treaty that establishes all maritime activities around the world — “and to challenge its bullying and excessive maritime claims.” Harris’ use of the word “bullying” builds on accusations made earlier during a visit to Singapore Monday that China “continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea.” Harris Says China Coercing, Intimidating in South China Sea  US vice president cited Chinese intimidation in the South China Sea along with need for freedom of navigation and commerce Beijing has aggressively expanded its military presence in the region, establishing scores of outposts on artificial islands while claiming ownership of other islands despite competing claims by Vietnam and other East Asian Pacific nations. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has made countering Chinese influence a key part of its foreign policy.  Harris also announced that the United States will provide an additional 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam and open a new regional branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hanoi. Harris is the first U.S. vice president to visit Vietnam. Her flight from Singapore to Hanoi Tuesday was delayed because of “a report of a recent possible anomalous health incident,” in the city, according to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. The U.S. State Department has often used “anomalous health incidents” to refer to an illness that has stricken dozens of U.S. diplomats, commonly known as the Havana Syndrome.  Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters. 
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to be the ruling political party’s vice-presidential candidate in next year’s elections, the PDP-Laban party said on Tuesday, laying the groundwork for the leader to stay in power beyond his term. The PDP-Laban party made the announcement ahead of a national assembly on Sept. 8 where it is also expected to endorse Duterte’s aide and incumbent senator Christopher “Bong” Go to be its presidential candidate in the 2022 polls. Duterte is making “the sacrifice” and heeding “the clamor of the people,” Karlo Nograles, executive vice president of the ruling PDP-Laban party, said in a statement. In the Philippines, the president is limited to one six-year term and Duterte’s term is due to end by June next year. His vice-presidential run is seen by political observers as a backdoor to the presidency, however. Nograles said the move would “guarantee continuity of the administration’s programs during the past five years,” including those meant to address illegal drugs. Duterte’s critics believe he could be making a play for retaining power through the number two post, by taking over as president in the event ally Go wins and then resigns. Duterte, who has portrayed himself as a reluctant president with no desire for power, has on several occasions said he wanted Go to be his successor. His endorsement in 2019 helped Go to become a senator, a post he carries out alongside his duties as Duterte’s personal aide. Go has been the 76-year-old’s closest aide since the late 1990s, when Duterte was a congressman representing Davao City in the country’s south. “I am still not interested [in the presidency],” Go, who chairs the senate committee on health, told Reuters. “Vaccines first, before politics,” he added. Duterte has said he wants to shield Sought for comment, Go said he would rather focus on addressing the pandemic. “I am still not interested [in the presidency],” said Go, who chairs the senate committee on health. “Vaccines first before politics” himself from possible legal action when he leaves office. That may include a possible investigation by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The ICC’s prosecutor has sought the go-ahead to launch a formal investigation into the killings committed during Duterte’s war on drugs.  
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Hong Kong has seen an alarming reduction in its population over the last 12 months, as people leave in the wake of the pandemic and the city’s political turmoil.According to data released by the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong’s population has declined by 1.2%, equating to 89,200 people. It’s the biggest decrease in Hong Kong’s population in 60 years, AFP reported.It comes after Beijing imposed a national security law on the city, cracking down on political dissidents following the anti-government protests in 2019.Kacey Wong, a visual artist and activist from Hong Kong, recently relocated to Taiwan, citing the far-reaching effects of the security law. He told VOA over the phone that he wants to live somewhere that has “100% freedom of expression,” he said. “For me Taiwan provides that opportunity,” he added.One of Hong Kong’s well-known artists, Wong, 51, is known for his flair for the visual arts embodied with social activism and politics. But he hasn’t gone unnoticed by Beijing, as his name appeared in state-controlled newspaper Ta Kung Pao — which is thought to be China’s wanted list for those who may have broken the security law.After seeing dozens of lawmakers arrested under the security law, Wong believes that the so-called “red line” of the law in Hong Kong has become so ambiguous that it’s becoming untenable to live with.“People are saying it’s not the red line anymore, it’s the red sea. It’s a zone that you cannot avoid,” he said.Wong pointed to how supporters are being targeted for wearing black t-shirts and yellow face mask.  The two colors are associated with the pro-democracy movement, and wearing them is seen as a method of protest against the government. Supporters of the movement have used other methods too, such as publicly reading Apple Daily’s pro-democracy newspaper, before its closure in June.Last Edition: Hong Kong’s Apple Daily Signs Off With Million-Copy RunPro-democracy newspaper prints its final edition at midnight after national security law case forces it out of businessA government spokesman said the high numbers of those leaving the city are not all necessarily emigrating and the population decline is also due to the lack of new arrivals, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, the South China Morning Post reported.Additionally, Hong Kong has also had the COVID-19 pandemic to contend with, and although the city has recorded only 12,000 cases with 200 people dead, strict quarantine measures remain.British visaAn offer of citizenship made by Britain for millions of Hong Kong residents has contributed to thousands leaving, the data suggests.Following activation of the security law, the British Government announced it would extend the rights of British National Overseas, or BNO, passport holders in Hong Kong, with nearly 3 million residents eligible. The scheme allows Hong Kong residents born before 1997 a “pathway to citizenship” after five years.An assessment by the British Government estimated that by 2026 up to 300,000 could apply to emigrate, with 34,000 having already applied between January and March.One Hong Kong resident told VOA that she recently relocated to Taiwan but there is the BNO option, too.Jenny, which isn’t her real name, said she was arrested during the protests in 2019 and decided to leave Hong Kong last July, fearing jail.“I’m not sure whether I would get a fair trial or not,” she said.Hong Kong’s Security Bureau recently told VOA in an email that people were not being targeted based on their political or professional affiliation.“Any law enforcement actions taken by Hong Kong law enforcement agencies are based on evidence, strictly according to the law, for the acts of the persons or entities concerned, and have nothing to do with their political stance, background or occupation. It would be contrary to the rule of law to suggest that people or entities of certain sectors or professions could be above the law,” the bureau said.Activists self-exiled  Dozens of lawmakers and activists are facing jail under the security law in Hong Kong, but several managed to flee overseas.Ted Hui, a former lawmaker in Hong Kong’s mini-parliament, the Legislative Council, left for Australia in late 2020. He was facing nine charges and believes he was being investigated under the security law.“In the past year, I think the intensity is getting stronger and stronger and level of enforcement. It’s no doubt to me now, a year after the introduction of the NSL, 100% it is the death of one country two systems, a total collapse of Hong Kong’s freedoms. Not any autonomy at all,” Hui told VOA in June. Hong Kong Reels After One Year of National Security Law Imposed by China As China exuberantly celebrated 100 years of the Communist Party in Beijing, the mood and atmosphere in Hong Kong was different Teachers’ union disbanded  The political climate in Hong Kong has also pressured civil society groups into closing. Last week the Civil Human Rights Front disbanded.  The group was responsible for some of Hong Kong’s largest-ever street protests.Hong Kong’s Professional Teachers’ Union also disbanded earlier this month after the government cut ties with the union and accused it of spreading anti-Beijing and anti-government sentiment.Hong Kong’s Largest Protest Group Disbands Civil Human Rights Front is the latest pro-democracy group to fold in Hong Kong The education sector has come under scrutiny ever since the security law was passed, and Hong Kong schools were ordered to remove materials that may violate the legislation.One teacher, who requested anonymity fearing retaliation, told VOA that there are concerns that “investigations” could be launched if umbrellas were used during practical activities in the classroom. Umbrellas were deployed by protesters during street protests and became symbolic during the pro-democracy movement.Another teacher quit their role at the Chinese University of Hong Kong citing self-censorship fears and being misreported if discussing texts such as George Orwell.“I stopped at the university because I felt there’s no way that we’d be able to have the kind of in-class discussions we used before the national security law,” the teacher told VOA.
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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke of what she called a “shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region” as she visited Singapore at the start of a short trip to Southeast Asia. Speaking to reporters alongside Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Harris stressed U.S. commitment to the region and working with allies to “uphold the rules-based international order and freedom of navigation, including in the South China Sea.” “The reason I am here is because the United States is a global leader, and we take that role seriously,” Harris said.U.S. Vice President visits Singapore, Aug. 23, 2021.Monday’s talks included extensive focus on the climate crisis, Harris said, along with the need for cooperation to end the coronavirus pandemic and to prevent future ones from occurring. “The pandemic has highlighted the importance of working together as partners on the issue of global health,” she said. Harris is scheduled to meet Tuesday with business leaders in Singapore as part of a joint effort to shore up supply chains. The United States and Singapore have also agreed to cooperate on an effort to identify new coronavirus variants and to boost preparedness in Southeast Asia. Earlier Monday, Harris took part in a welcome ceremony and met with President Halimah Yacob. Harris will also make a stop Monday at the Changi Naval Base, where she will speak to U.S. sailors aboard the visiting USS Tulsa.      Late Tuesday, Harris arrives in Vietnam, becoming the first U.S. vice president to visit Hanoi, as Washington seeks to bolster international support to counter China’s growing global influence.      Her visit follows Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s late July trip to the same two countries plus the Philippines and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s virtual meetings August 4 with counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations at an annual summit.US Seen Bolstering Military Links in Southeast Asia to Counter China US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Hanoi and Manila this week to advocate ‘integrated deterrence’ among Southeast Asian statesRalph Jennings contributed to this article. 
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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived Sunday in Singapore, at the start of a short trip to Southeast Asia. Harris begins her public duties on Monday, speaking with Singapore President Halimah Yacob and holding a bilateral meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, according to The Associated Press.During the first leg of her trip to regional financial center Singapore, Harris will also make a stop at the Changi Naval Base, where she will speak to U.S. sailors aboard the visiting USS Tulsa.Late Tuesday, Harris arrives in Vietnam, becoming the first U.S. vice president to visit Hanoi, as Washington seeks to bolster international support to counter China’s growing global influence.She will speak with both Singaporean and Vietnamese officials about security, climate change, the pandemic and “joint efforts to promote a rules-based international order,” spokesperson Symone Sanders said. Her visit would follow Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s late July trip to the same two countries plus the Philippines and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s virtual meetings August 4 with counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations at an annual summit.US Seen Bolstering Military Links in Southeast Asia to Counter China US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Hanoi and Manila this week to advocate ‘integrated deterrence’ among Southeast Asian statesThe trip appears a continuation of the Biden administration’s efforts to compete with China for influence in a crucial yet wary region of 660 million people, experts say.Southeast Asian nations have long valued the U.S. role in their “security,” according to a Foreign Policy Research Institute research organization analysis released in June.Washington periodically sends warships, sells arms and helps train troops.The 10-member Southeast Asian bloc, however, opposes overtly siding with any outside power, though, the analysis says. 
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Cheryl Simpson was supposed to be celebrating her 60th birthday over lunch with friends but instead found herself confined to her Auckland home. The discovery of a single local COVID-19 case in New Zealand was enough for the government to put the entire country into strict lockdown this past week. While others might see that as draconian, New Zealanders generally support such measures because they worked so well in the past.  “I’m happy to go into lockdown, even though I don’t like it,” said Simpson, owner of a day care center for dogs that is now closed because of the precautions. She said she wants the country to crush the latest outbreak: “I’d like to knock the bloody thing on the head.” Elsewhere around the Pacific, though, Japan is resisting such measures in the face of a record-breaking surge, instead emphasizing its accelerating vaccine program. And Australia has fallen somewhere in the middle. All three countries got through the first year of the pandemic in relatively good shape but are now taking diverging paths in dealing with outbreaks of the delta variant, the highly contagious form that has contributed to a growing sense that the coronavirus cannot be stamped out, just managed. Professor Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at New Zealand’s University of Otago, said countries around the world are struggling to adapt to the latest threat: “With the delta variant, the old rules just don’t work.” The differing emphasis on lockdowns versus vaccines — and how effective such strategies prove to be in beating back the delta variant — could have far-reaching consequences for the three countries’ economies and the health of their citizens. Japan has never imposed lockdowns against the coronavirus. The public is wary of government overreach after the country’s fascist period before and during World War II, and Japan’s postwar constitution lays out strict protections for civil liberties. Before the delta variant, the country managed to keep a lid on coronavirus outbreaks in part because many people in Japan were already used to wearing surgical masks for protection from spring allergies or when they caught colds. Now, almost everyone on public transportation wears a mask during commuting hours. But late at night, people tend to uncover in restaurants and bars, which has allowed the variant to spread. Hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games didn’t help either. While strict protocols kept infections inside the games to a minimum, experts such as Dr. Shigeru Omi, a key medical adviser to the government, say the Olympics created a festive air that led people in Japan to lower their guard. New cases in Japan have this month leaped to 25,000 each day, more than triple the highest previous peak. Omi considers that a disaster.A security guard takes a break in front of the Tokyo metropolitan building during a Paralympic torch relay event in Tokyo, Aug. 20, 2021.Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday expanded and extended a state of emergency covering Tokyo and other areas until at least mid-September, though most of the restrictions aren’t legally enforceable. Many governors are urging the prime minister to consider much tougher restrictions. But Suga said lockdowns have been flouted around the world, and vaccines are “the way to go.” Daily vaccinations in Japan increased tenfold from May to June as thousands of worksites and colleges began offering shots, but a slow start has left the nation playing catch-up. Only about 40% of people are fully vaccinated. In Australia, a delta outbreak hit Sydney in June, after an unvaccinated limousine driver became infected while transporting a U.S. cargo air crew from the Sydney Airport. State authorities hesitated for 10 days before imposing lockdown measures across Sydney that have now dragged on for two months.  Early in the pandemic, Australia’s federal government imposed just one nationwide lockdown. Now, amid the delta outbreak, it is pursuing a strategy it calls aggressive suppression — including strict controls on Australians leaving the country and foreigners entering — but is essentially letting state leaders call the shots. New infections in Sydney have climbed from just a few each week before the latest outbreak to more than 800 a day. “It’s not possible to eliminate it completely. We have to learn to live with it,” Gladys Berejiklian, premier of Sydney’s New South Wales state, said in what many interpreted as a significant retreat from the determination state leaders have previously shown to crush outbreaks entirely.  “That is why we have a dual strategy in New South Wales,” Berejiklian said. “Get those case numbers down, vaccination rates up. We have to achieve both in order for us to live freely into the future.” The outbreak in Sydney has spilled over into the capital, Canberra, which has also gone into lockdown. Government worker Matina Carbone wore a mask while shopping on Friday. “I don’t know that anyone’s ever going to really beat delta,” she said. “I think we just have to try and increase our rates of vaccinations and slowly open things up when we think it’s safe to do so.”  But Australia lags far behind even Japan in getting people inoculated, with just 23% of people fully vaccinated. Last year, soon after the pandemic first hit, neighboring New Zealand imposed a strict, nationwide lockdown and closed its border to non-residents. That wiped out the virus completely. The country of 5 million has been able to vanquish each outbreak since, recording just 26 virus deaths. It went six months without a single locally spread case, allowing people to go about their daily lives much as they had before the pandemic. But this month, the Sydney outbreak spread to New Zealand, carried by a returning traveler.  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promptly imposed the strictest form of lockdown. By Sunday, the number of locally spread cases in New Zealand had grown to 72, and the virus had reached the capital, Wellington. Officials raced to track 10,000 more people who might have been exposed. Ardern has been steadfast. “We have been here before. We know the elimination strategy works. Cases rise, and then they fall, until we have none,” she said. “It’s tried and true. We just need to stick it out.” Baker, the epidemiologist, said he believes it is still possible for New Zealand to wipe out the virus again by pursuing the “burning ember” approach of taking drastic measures to stamp out the first sign of an outbreak. That remains to be seen. New Zealand doesn’t have much of a Plan B. A recent report by expert advisers to the government noted the nation has comparatively few intensive care hospital beds and said an outbreak could quickly overwhelm the health system. And New Zealand has been the slowest developed nation to put shots in arms, with just 20% of people fully vaccinated. 
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